There is a lot of optimism - and interest - in the Lehighton wrestling program.

And for good reason.

The Indians are coming off a season that saw Aidan Gruber qualify for the state tournament as a sophomore and also pick up a win in Hershey. Gruber made it to the Class 2A finals at districts two weeks earlier, where Lehighton led all area teams with a sixth-place finish in the team standings.

Gruber was fifth at regionals for the Tribe, who also made it to the second day of the District 11 Class 2A duals before falling in the consolation semifinals.

There is little reason to believe the run of success will stop anytime soon.

“I think the kids are really excited for the season,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “We have a ton of kids who came out this year, probably the most we’ve had. Right now, I believe it’s at 36, and I think that kind of shows some of the excitement with the program. And getting to states last year with Aidan as a sophomore, I think kids realize, ‘If I work hard in the offseason and I do everything I need to do, I can get to states, too.’

“And I think that excites our kids, and we have a pretty good freshmen class coming in. I’m excited about them. We have a number of starters back from last year, and some newcomers who are looking pretty good at practice so far also. So we’re excited.”

The Indians have continued to grow and develop through the offseason, a process that builds on the culture the program has created.

“This past summer, we always go to a camp. It’s a good team-building exercise,” said Brown. “The kids get a lot of matches. This is the first summer in probably two or three that we’ve been able to, as a team, go to a summer camp. We had around 20 kids go, so that was really nice.

“They got probably 12-15 matches in four or five days that we wrestled, so that was kind of nice getting back to normal.”

Lehighton, which hosted its first girls event on the second day of last year’s Coal Cracker Tournament, will also feature three girls on this year’s team, including returnee Layla Bravo (senior) as well as newcomers Ciara Berhal and Maggie Pagotto, who are both juniors as the push continues to sanction the sport in Pennsylvania.

“I thought our numbers would be a little bit higher for the girls team because there was a lot of excitement around that in the beginning, so there may be a few more here that come out,” said Brown, “But we are excited about it, and they are as well. It’s been really good.”

Brown expects Gruber, who finished last season at 113 pounds, to be in the same range as a junior.

“I’m expecting him to have a really great season,” Brown said of Gruber. “He didn’t really put on a whole lot of weight, so he’s probably going to be right around the same weight class as he was last year, which I think is going to make him strong.”

Senior Nick Zeigenfuss was fifth at districts as a freshman at 113 pounds, and fourth at 120 as a sophomore. He’ll be looking to cap his career with a strong season.

Jacob Ferguson placed sixth at districts at 138 pounds as a freshman a year ago, and Brown expects Ferguson to start the season around 160 pounds this winter.

Jacob Hall placed sixth at 106 pounds at last season’s district tournament as a sophomore. Sophomores Brok Solt and Deven Armbruster return after gaining valuable experience a year ago near the top of the lineup.

Junior Wyatt Sherer posted over 20 victories wrestling primarily at 215 pounds last season. Juniors Reese Balk, who did well in the district JV tournament, and Joey Houser, who had success in the middle school district tournament, will be in the mix at heavyweight.

Junior Ethan Nothstein is also in the mix at the lighter weights, while senior Ethan Barachie is expected to see consistent time near the middle of the lineup. Brown is expecting a handful of talented freshmen to also crack the lineup this season.

“Our middle school team last year was the second-place team for AA for middle school districts,” said Brown. “So most of those guys have moved up, so I’m looking forward to them stepping in and hopefully picking up where they left off last year, just at a different level now.”

And that’s meant competing at a high level in recent years, a trend that should continue for Lehighton once again this winter.